Authors

Thu Thu Aung

YANGON (Reuters) - Organisers of a summit in Myanmar's crisis-hit western state of Rakhine are this week pitching to investors its plentiful farmland and fishing grounds, tourist-ready beaches and historic temples.

YANGON (Reuters) - New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar's next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth.

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon on Tuesday to disperse a protest over a statue of independence hero General Aung San that is opposed by members of the Karenni ethnic minority, police and a protest leader said.

YANGON (Reuters) - Dozens of activists in eastern Myanmar face charges of unlawful assembly, an activist leader said on Friday, after police broke up the latest protest against a statue of Aung San, the nation's independence hero and father of leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

YANGON (Reuters) - Lawyers defending the suspected conspirators behind the murder of a prominent Muslim lawyer in Myanmar on Friday proclaimed their clients' innocence, or asked the court for lesser charges, as the landmark case drew to a close.

YANGON (Reuters) - Lawyers for two Reuters reporters jailed in Myanmar for breaking a colonial-era official secrets law appealed to the Supreme Court on Friday against their conviction, as a rights group said the government wielded repressive laws against peaceful critics.

YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar policeman who told a court last year how officers planted secret documents on two Reuters reporters in order to "entrap" them was released from prison on Friday, after being sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline.

YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar court on Friday rejected the appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven years in jail on charges of breaking the Official Secrets Act, saying the defence had not provided sufficient evidence to show they were innocent.

YANGON (Reuters) - Rakhine insurgents killed 13 policemen and injured nine in attacks on four police posts in Myanmar's Rakhine state on Friday as the country marked Independence Day, the official news agency said.

(Reuters) - The Myanmar military on Friday announced a more than four-month cessation of its activities in northern areas where it is fighting ethnic minority insurgents, in what appeared to be a rare conciliatory move aimed at kick-starting peace talks.